Luciola marginipennis ( Boisduval, 1835 )

Ballantyne, Lesley A. & Lambkin, Christine, 2009, Systematics of Indo-Pacific fireflies with a redefinition of Australasian Atyphella Olliff, Madagascan Photuroluciola Pic, and description of seven new genera from the Luciolinae (Coleoptera: Lampyridae), Zootaxa 1997, pp. 1-188 : 106

Luciola marginipennis ( Boisduval, 1835)

Lampyris marginipennis Boisduval, 1835:126 Luciola Marginipennis Laporte, 1833:151 . Nomen nudum. Colophotia marginipennis Dejean, 1837:103 . Nomen nudum. Germar, 1848:184. (Incorrect record from Adelaide). Luciola marginipennis Guérin-Méneville. Motschulsky, 1854: 53 . Lacordaire, 1857:338. Olivier, 1902: 83. Lea, 1909:

46, 106. McDermott, 1966: 109. Luciola marginipennis Boisduval. Olivier, 1913: 417 . Incorrect attribution of author to Guérin-Méneville.

Type. Ile Waigiou (may be Waigeo off NW tip of Irian Jaya 130E, 0S). Location of holotype unknown.

Remarks. Ballantyne believes Olivier (1913) incorrectly synonymised L. limbata and L. rubiginosa with L. marginipennis . Both Blanchard's (1853) Luciola limbata and Luciola rubiginosa Olivier (1883) from the Solomons were described with the MS black, consistent with the specimens described here as M. limbata , while Guérin-Méneville's (1838) L. marginipennis was described with a red MS.

This species is not reliably identified in collections due in part to confusion over the actual publication date of Guérin-Méneville's (1838), and also the lack of type material. Cowan (1970) and Bocák (1998) resolved the issue of the publication date and their opinions are followed here.

Guérin-Méneville (1838) has been considered the author of marginipennis in all references to the species since Motschulsky (1854). Although Boisduval (1835) attributed Lampyris marginipennis to Guérin-Méneville, Boisduval's description of the species is the first published use of the name to be associated with a description, although it is impossible to determine the sex. His specimens were taken in 'Ile Waigiou’, which is probably Waigeo (130E, 0S) off the NW tip of Irian Jaya. Guérin-Méneville's (1838) work has consistently been quoted in the literature as 1830 and both Laporte (1833) and Boisduval (1835) had apparently seen Guérin-Méneville's work long before it was published ( Ballantyne, 1988). Guérin-Méneville's description of the antepenultimate abdominal segment yellow and the penultimate emarginated indicates he based Lampyris marginipennis on a female. However the specimen was 7 mm long and taken in Papua at ‘Offak’ ( Lea 1909 thought this could have been Mt Arfak). While this study has not revealed any species with orange pronotum, dark brown elytra with lateral pale margins from the island of New Guinea, several Luciola and Pteroptyx species with colouration of orange pronotum and dark elytra are known (these also conform to the smaller size described) ( Ballantyne 1987a; work in progress). Dejean's (1837) record is a catalogue name only, and Germar's (1848) record of the species from Adelaide is erroneous. [No species of firefly have been recorded in Australia south of Sydney ( Ballantyne & Lambkin 2000)].